Complete archive of past articles on the Cordaro and Munchak corruption case.

Overwhelming evidence and a well-prepared prosecution prevented former Lackawanna County Commissioners A.J. Munchak and Robert C. Cordaro from beating their federal indictments, a former prosecutor and a local defense lawyer said.

Defense lawyers focused on undermining the two key government witnesses, West Scranton funeral director Al Hughes and Highland Associates engineering firm co-owner Don Kalina, but that didn't work because prosecutors buttressed their testimony with other witnesses, the two lawyers said.

"They had not just one witness of a bribe or extortion, but five or six," said attorney Ernie Preate Jr., a former state attorney general who pleaded guilty to federal mail fraud in 1995, resigned and served a 16-month sentence. He is now a prominent local defense lawyer.

"It's a lot easier to say one guy was lying. ... It's hard for the defense to poke a hole in a witness when you have so many people," he said.

Mr. Munchak and Mr. Cordaro were convicted Tuesday of bribery, extortion, income tax evasion and other charges.

Mr. Hughes testified he funneled $10,000 a month in bribes to Mr. Cordaro for three years from P.J. McLaine and E. Kenneth Acker, co-owners of now-defunct Acker Associates of Moscow. The defense attacked him as a degenerate gambler who lived a lavish lifestyle and implied he pocketed the money, but the prosecution had Mr. McLaine and Mr. Acker testify to giving the money to Mr. Hughes.

That was combined with evidence of six checks, including one that bounced, written from Mr. Hughes to Mr. Cordaro for a total of $50,000.

Mr. Kalina testified he three times combined $10,000 in cash payments from himself and two Highland partners, Kevin Smith and Dominic Provini, to come up with three $30,000 payments. Two went to Mr. Munchak and one to Mr. Cordaro, he testified.

The defense tried to make Mr. Kalina out to be a philandering husband who kept the money from his partners to pay to keep his mistresses hushed, but Mr. Kalina's testimony was backed by Mr. Smith and Mr. Provini. They testified in depth about how they came up with their $10,000 shares of cash each time. They argued they had to do it or risk losing their county contracts and be forced to lay off employees.

"Don Kalina would not lie to me," Mr. Smith testified.

Defense attorney Paul J. Walker, an open critic of Mr. Cordaro and Mr. Munchak's tenure as commissioners, said the backup witnesses strengthened the prosecution case.

"When you have multiple people saying they gave them money, and they expect things in return for doing things, it's hard to say it's not pay to play," Mr. Walker said.

Mr. Preate pointed to several signs of the prosecution's preparedness.

When defense witness Timothy Earley testified he contributed to the Munchak-Cordaro campaign committee in 2007 only, Assistant U.S. Attorney Bruce D. Brandler produced seven contribution checks between 2004 to 2007.

When Mr. Cordaro testified he cashed all his commissioner paychecks, Mr. Brandler produced evidence that showed he actually deposited all his 2007 paychecks.

When Mr. Munchak testified he enjoyed gambling at casinos, Assistant U.S. Attorney William Houser produced casino "markers" - forms of borrowing - showing he gambled at least $43,000 at casinos in 2005 , close to half his income.

"You can't take the stand and not know they have markers" that show that, Mr. Walker said.

Mr. Preate said the presence of so much cash in testimony and documents also hurt the defense case, referring specifically to Mr. Cordaro buying two expensive cars with cash.

"I mean, what person in this area goes up to a car dealer and says, 'Here's $50,000 to buy a car,' particularly in this neck of the woods?" Mr. Preate said. "I'll bet there was nobody on the jury who ever did that."

Mr. Walker and Mr. Preate were reluctant to criticize the defense, given the strength of the prosecution case. But Mr. Preate said the defense never produced a solid explanation of many facets of the prosecution case. As an example, he used Mr. Cordaro's deposited paychecks that he said he cashed.

"How do you get up on the stand and say that?" Mr. Preate asked. "That's something you, as a defendant, have to know when you get up on the stand."

Mr. Walker said the case should never have gone to trial, and both men should have pleaded guilty.

"You've got stubborn clients," Mr. Walker said. "They can't admit to their friends and their family they did something reprehensible."

In Mr. Cordaro's case, his combativeness as a witness showed his "arrogance," Mr. Walker said.

"That's his style, the cigar-smoking arrogance," he said. "And I think that he probably thought, 'I can beat this, I can talk my way out of this.' "

Heidi Havens, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office that prosecuted the case, said the prosecution would have no comment because the case is incomplete.

"Mr. Munchak and Mr. Cordaro have not even been sentenced yet and therefore this is still a pending matter," Ms. Havens said.

Sentencing is Sept. 28.

Efforts to reach lawyers for Mr. Cordaro and Mr. Munchak were unsuccessful, but in a statement to reporters after the trial, Mr. Cordaro praised the defense, saying, "We presented more than reasonable doubt in each and every instance."

Meanwhile, some of the sexier and more emotional aspects of the 12-day trial of Mr. Cordaro and Mr. Munchak surfaced Thursday when authorities released pictures and other government exhibits introduced as evidence.

Among the batch of exhibits is a picture, taken at the Playboy Mansion, of Mr. Cordaro and his boyhood friend Charles A. "Chuckie" Costanzo smoking cigars. According to testimony during the trial by Marc Boriosi, the trip to the Los Angeles mansion was paid with some of the $650,000 Mr. Costanzo stole from the county while overseeing the workers' compensation fund. Mr. Boriosi was partners in a company, Executive Claims Administration, with Mr. Costanzo.

There is also another picture of Mr. Cordaro and Mr. Costanzo at the Playboy Mansion standing in a room behind a couch with Hugh Hefner, who is flanked by young women in low-cut dresses.

The government also released telephone conversations between Mr. Hughes and Mr. Cordaro that were recorded by the FBI. On the tape, which was played to the jury, Mr. Cordaro says, "They're trying to make a story out of something that didn't happen."

But in a later call, when Mr. Hughes started laying out the scheme, Mr. Cordaro said, "I'm not even talking about it. We're on the phone, Al."

"Stop!" Mr. Cordaro screamed. "Don't talk to me about it."

JOE MCDONALD, staff writer, contributed to this report.

Contact the writer: bkrawczeniuk@timesshamrock.com

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